Shoveling-board.



,339. Patented Apr. I6, 1901.

w. B. STURGIS.

SHOVELING BOARD.

(Application filed Jan.'1 1901.)

(No Model.)

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WILLIAM B. STURGIS, OF SHELBYVILLE, ILLINOIS.

SHOVELlNG-"BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 672,339, dated April16, 1901.

Application filed January 15, 1901- serial No. 43,410. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. STURGIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Shelbyville, in the county of Shelby and State of Illinois,haveinventeda new and useful Shoveling-Board, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to shoveling-boards for wagons, the object inView being to provide an attachment for wagons employing removableend-gates, which attachment is in the nature of a combined shoveling'board and end-gate, the same having employed in connectiontherewith supporting-links, by which it is loosely and pivotally swungupon the wagon body, and locking stay-rods for holding the board inproper position relatively to the wagon-body.

The shoveling-board is so connected with the wagon-bod y that it may bedetached therefrom, together with the appliances by means of which it ishingedly supported, or the shoveling-board may be thrown upward and overupon the top of the wagon-body, so as to rest upon the sides thereofwhen it is desired to dump the contents of the wagon.

The invention contemplates certain novel features by means of which thedevice as a whole may be instantly removed from the wagon-body and asquickly reapplied thereto when required for use.

One of the novel features of the invention resides in a pair of saddles,which are detachably mounted upon the upper edges of the side-boards ofthe wagon and which comprise bracket-arms, having offset pendentextensions with in wardly-projecting feet, which are adapted to liebetween the usual end-gate cleats,and which offset portions carry thepivots upon which the supporting-links are journaled.

The detailed objects and advantages of the present invention will appearmore fully in the course of the ensuing description.

The invention consists in a combined endgate and shoveling-board forwagon-bodies embodying certain novel features and details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described,illustrated in the drawings, and incorporated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of awagon-body equipped with a shoveling-board constructed in accordancewith the present invention and connected with the wagon-body by thenovel means forming the subject-matter of this invention. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the same, showing the shoveling-board folded upward toa position where it constitutes the end-gate of the wagon-body. Fig. 3is a similar view showing the shoveling'board thrown upward and inwardon top of the wagon-body sides for permitting the wagon to be dumped.Fig. at is an enlarged detail perspective view of one of the saddles,showing also one of the supporting-links and one of the adjustable eyes.Fig. 5 is a fragmentary View of a portion of one edge of theshoveling-board, showing the form of pintle thereon with which thesupporting-links engage. Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross-section through oneof the offset seats and pendent extensions of the saddles, showing themanner of forming said seat.

Similarnumerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a wagon-body having the usualsides 2, which are provided adjacent to the rear end of the body andupon their inner surfaces with parallel cleats 3, between which theusual endgate is adapted to be slidingly received and held.

The shoveling-board comprises abottom 4, which constitutes theshoveling-board proper, and side guards 5, which are secured in anyconvenient manner thereto. Gross-cleats 6 extend transversely of thebottom of the board 4 and are secured thereto by means of bolts 7 orother suitable fastening devices.

The bottom 4 of the shoveling-board is provided at suitable points withslots or kerfs 8, which extend from the inner edge thereof toward therear to receive the lower ends of a pair of supporting-links 9. Theslots 8 are crossed by pintles 10, the opposite ends of which areflattened to form attaching portions 11, which are bolted, riveted, orotherwise secured to the lower surface of the bottom 4. Thesupporting-links 9 are provided at their free extremities with hooks 12,which detachably engage the pintles 10 in order to enable theshoveling-board to be quickly disconnected from the links wheneverrequired.

' Removably fitted upon the upper edges of the sides 2 of the wagon-bodyare saddles 13, each of which comprises a body or connecting portion 14,with clips at each end of the body portion, adapted to pass over andfriotional'ly engage the upper edge of one side of the body, as shown inFig. 1. The body portion 14 is designed to bear against the outersurface of the side 2 of the wagon-body, while one of the clips 15 isextended downwardly to form a bracket-arm 16, which engages between thecleats 3, as illustrated in Fig. l. 'The bracket-arm 16 is provided nearits lower end with a pendent offset extension 17, the outer surface ofwhich lies in line with or slightly beyond the exposed faces of thecleats 3, so as to enable one ofthesupporting links 9 to be pivotallyconnected therewith. The extremity of the bracketarm 16 is bent to forman inwardly-extending foot portion 18, which renters the space betweenthe cleats 3 and bears against the inner surface of the side 2 of thewagonbody. In this way the offset portion 17 of the bracket-arm ispositioned so as to con nect with the supporting-links 9 and at the sametime is effectively braced, so as to prevent lateral movement or bendingof the same.

Connected with the offset portions of each of the bracket-arms 16 is apivot or stud 19, adapted to pivotally receive one of thesupporting-links 9, each of which is provided with a plurality ofopenings 20, each adapted to receive the pivot 19, thereby providing forthe adjustment of the supporting-links for raising or lowering one edgeof the shovelingboard. The links 9 are held upon the pivots 19 by meansof split pins or cotters 21 or in any other convenient manner.

Each of the saddles 13 is also provided with a pendent extension 22,which lies upon the outer side of the wagon-body and which is stamped orpressed outward to form a hollow offset seat 23, against which thebase-plate 24 of the eye or loop 25 is designed to be clamped. Themeeting surfaces of the base-plate 24 and ofiset seat 23 arecorrespondingly corrugated or serrated, as illustrated at 26, so as tosecure a positive and non-slipping engagement between said parts, thelatter being securely held in contact by means of a clamping-bolt 27,provided with a head 28, which is contained within thehollow offset seat23. The seat 23 is further provided with a vertical slot 29 to permitthe clamping-bolt 27 to be adjusted up and down, and the base-plate 24is provided with a corresponding slot 30, which, however, extendshorizontally. The bolt 27 passes through both of the slots 28 and 30 andreceives a clamping-nut 31. By the means described the eye 26 may beadjusted either vertically or horizontally, and in this way the eye maybe brought to any desired elevation or moved backward or forwardrelatively to the length of the wagon, so as to locate the eyes at theproper points to be effectively ongaged by a pair of locking stay-rods32, connected with the shoveling-board.

Secured to the side guards 5 of the shoveling-board 4 are metal straps33, which are preferably provided at their upper or outer ends withhead-studs 34, receiving the eyes at the pivotal ends of the lockingstay-rods 32. In this way the said rods are pivotally connected to theshoveling-board, while their opposite ends are recurved to formspring-ter-, minals 35, each diverging toward their extremities from thebody portions of the stayrods, as illustrated in the drawings, thuspreventing them from passing accidentally through and escaping from theeyes 25 after they have been inserted therethrough, which result isobtained by making the distance between the extremity of the terminaland the body portion of the rod greater than the width of the eye 25,through which the spring-terminals are inserted. In order to secure thestay-rods 32, hook-shaped keepers 36 are secured to the side guards ofthe shovelingboard, and after said board has been thrown upward into avertical position, as shown in Fig. 2, the said rods are sprung over andengaged upon the keepers 36, as illustrated in said figure. The rods 32are likewise engaged with the keepers 36 when the shoveling-board isthrown upward and over upon the body of the wagon, as illustrated inFig. 3.

When the board is used for shoveling ma.- terial in the wagon-bodytherefrom, it is adjusted to the position illustrated in Fig. l, inwhich the stay-rods 32 are inserted through the eyes 25 and engagedtherewith in the manner shown. When the board is used as an end-gate, itis swung upward to the position indicated in Fig. 2 and the stay-rodsare drawn rearward and engaged with the keepers 36, thus preventing theshoveling-board from accidentally falling. When it is desired to dumpthe contents of the wagon-body, the shoveling-board is lowered, so thatthe looking stay-rods 32 may be withdrawn from the eyes 25, after whichsaid rods are engaged with the keepers 36 and the shoveling-board isswung upward and inward over the rear portion of the wagon-body and atthe same time inverted and brought to the position illustrated in Fig.3. This leaves the rear end of the wagon-body free from any obstructionand enables the contents of the wagon-body to be readily dumped; but atthe same time the shoveling-board is so held that it cannot accidentallyfall backward, so as to interfere with the dumping operation.

The shoveling-board, together with the holding devices therefor, may bequickly disconnected from the wagon-body by slipping the saddles 13 outof engagement with the sides of the wagon-body. This leaves merely theusual cleats 3, and an ordinary end-gate may then be used in connectiontherewith. The shoveling-board may be quickly applied to the wagon-bodyby slipping the saddles 13 into engagement with the wagon-body sides ina manner that will be readily understood without further description.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein-described shoveling-board will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art without further description, and itwill be understood that various changes in the form, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to without departin g fromthe principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is-- l. The combination with awagon-body, of a shoveling-board having a loose swinging and pivotalconnection therewith, swinging su pporting-lin ks detachably connectedatone end with the board, and adapting the board to be bodily swungupward over the wagonbody, and saddles detachably mounted on the sidesof the Wagon-body and each provided with a bracket-arm lying between theendgate cleats and having a pendent offset extension with a terminalfoot which lies between said cleats, the said offset extensions carryingthe pivots upon which the supporting-links are journaled, substantiallyas set forth.

2. The combination with a wagon-body, of a shoveling-board having aloose swinging and pivotal connection therewith, swingingsupporting-links connected at one end to said board, and adapting theboard to be bodily swung upward over the wagon -body, saddles detachablymounted on the sides of the wagon-body and provided with pendent arms towhich the links are connected, and also provided with extensionscarrying eyes, and locking stay-rods connected at one end to the boardand provided at their opposite ends with recurved spring-terminals whichengage and cooperate with the eyes, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

3. The combination with a wagon-body, of a shoveling-board having aloose swinging and pivotal connection therewith, swingingsupporting-links connected at one end to the board, and adapting theboard to be bodily swung upward over the wagon-body, looking stay-rodsconnected pivotally at one end to the board, and saddles embracing theupper edges of the wagon-body sides and comprising pendent bracket-armsto which the supporting-links are connected, pendent extensions of saidbrackets having hollow offset seats, rod engaging eyes adj ustably heldagainst said seats, and clampingbolts for said eyes having their headscontained within the hollow offsets, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM B. STURGIS. Witnesses:

WM. H. CRAIG, JOHN C. COPLIN.

